


party dress

by ClassyFangirl



Series: looking sharp [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Percy, Other, Pre-Relationship, Trans Female Character, Trans Vax, Trans Vex, set pre-Chroma Conclave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 17:44:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8905510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClassyFangirl/pseuds/ClassyFangirl
Summary: Percy is jealous of Vex in a way she didn't expect.





	

**Author's Note:**

> there are a couple trans boy Vax fics out there and they're good but i raise you: trans boy Vax AND trans girl Vex
> 
> i'm nonbinary myself but i'm dfab and not out, so if there's anything you find hurtful or inaccurate PLEASE let me know!!
> 
> also: briefly, at the beginning, Vex thinks Percy dislikes her because she's trans; it's not true, and not the bulk of the fic, but it does kick off the action, so just letting you know, in case that is something you want to avoid

Everyone in Vox Machina knows already.

For one, you can’t spend two years in close quarters with the same people and not wind up seeing each other naked. And the girls wash up together, so Pike and Keyleth know firsthand.

More importantly, the twins have taken great care to ensure none of their friends take issue with it. It’s serious business for a lot of people, what you say you are versus what’s in your pants, and they’ve been burned before, so they make certain to only surround themselves with people who won’t be total fucking pricks.

And it’s worked, which Vex finds to be a great relief. Scanlan has made the occasional crude joke, but she or Vax just hits him in the back of the head and he shuts right up. Gender identity is apparently a non-issue among the Ashari, and goliaths will put an ax in the hands of anyone who can swing it well. Their friends might have all sorts of issues that run the spectrum of physical, mental, and emotional, but not one of them has ever spoken a bad word about the twins’ identities.

Which makes it hurt more whenever Percy is _weird_ about it.

It’s nothing overt, and he’s never said anything out loud. He makes Vex her fancy trick arrows and says sweet things like, “You are my favorite, you know.” But sometimes he’ll shy away from her touch, or give her long, strange looks on the occasions she wears dresses for official council events or the like. It hurts, because he is always charming and polite but there’s that _except_ hanging in the air after each kind act.

Vax would normally have noticed by now and threatened to kick his teeth in, but her dear brother has his head up his ass thanks to his own relationships, let alone Vex’s. Besides- Vex can take care of herself.

They’re back in Emon after Whitestone, taking a day to themselves in between the mess with Daxio and the rest of the Council. Percy, down in his workshop, says he’s made her a belated Winter’s Crest gift. He hands over a small bundle of siege arrows, and Vex is delighted, but he makes an odd face when their fingers brush, and honestly? Vex has had enough.

“Percy,” she says, “if you have a problem with me, I’d much rather you just tell me.”

Percy startles and stares at her, eyes wide behind his glasses. “What- Vex, no, I certainly don’t-”

“ _Something_ is wrong, clearly,” she snaps. She hadn’t realized just how deep this had cut her, but suddenly her composure is gone. “You can barely stand to touch me, you stare awkwardly whenever you see me out of my armor- is that it? You hate being reminded that I’m not like the other girls? You can’t bear to accept that I’m a woman?” She realizes that there are tears in her eyes, but she won’t let them fall- she has plenty of practice at that.

Percy, to his credit, looks horrified. “No- that isn’t it at all, Vex, I swear-”

“Then _what,_ Percy, what is it?”

“I’m _jealous!_ ”

Percy seems shocked at his own outburst and clams up as his face turns red. Vex stares, and she’s a bit surprised at how easily she can suddenly see both herself and Vax in Percy.

“Percy…”

His back straightens and he clasps his hands behind him. “I’m truly sorry,” he says stiffly. “It has never been my intention to hurt you, and I regret my actions that have made you feel as though I don’t respect you. I ask that you forgive me-”

“Percy,” Vex says softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Percy stumbles over whatever he was trying to say next and presses his mouth into a hard, thin line. “Not particularly, no,” he says.

“All right.” They stand together in silence for a time, Vex thinking carefully. “Do you want to come to my room? Trinket’s napping, and I have some leftover biscuits from Laina.”

Percy says nothing for a long moment and Vex fears he’s going to refuse, but he says, “If it will begin to make up for how I have offended you,” and follows her up the stairs, quiet.

Up in her room, Vex sits Percy down at her little table and digs out the biscuit tin and, on a whim, a bottle of wine and two mugs. Trinket looks up from where his spot in the corner and makes a small, sleepy noise. She gently scratches him behind the ears before bringing the cups back to Percy.

She gives them each a generous pour of wine, which Percy accepts with a soft, “Thank you” and a long sip. Neither of them says anything for a few minutes, just drinking wine and nibbling at the biscuits.

“Growing up, I always had Vax, who felt the same as me,” Vex says after a while. “Did you know, our father never even noticed when we started wearing each other’s clothes and responding to the other’s name? Honestly,” she laughs at Percy’s surprised look. “Syngorn, as much as it fucking sucked, was the easiest place for us to be- well, ourselves.

“Leaving was the hardest, especially since we were- oh, about seventeen I think? We were both late bloomers, Vax was as flat as a board and I was baby-faced, then practically overnight he was all busty and I had a full beard.” She laughs again, softer this time, and shakes her head.

“I hated it when I had to first start shaving,” Percy says. His voice is very quiet; Vex reads the words on his lips more than she actually hears them. “It was sort of like…putting away childish things.”

Vex places her hand on top of Percy’s and smiles when he doesn’t flinch away. When she doesn’t say anything more, Percy seems to find it in himself to keep talking.

“I don’t think I feel the same as you,” he says. “I’m not a woman and I don’t think of myself as one. But I remember being small, looking at my mother and my older sister’s dresses and thinking, yes, I want that.”

Percy’s hand starts to shake beneath Vex’s, and she gently tightens her grip.

“I’m…I don’t really know who or what I am,” he admits. “I don’t feel like a woman. But I don’t exactly feel like a man, either.” He ducks his head shyly. “I’ve wanted to talk to you, or Vax, but- I was a bit afraid you would think I was mocking you. But apparently the actions I did take weren’t much better.”

“Well- it did hurt. But I’ve always found it easy to forgive you. Especially since I understand.” Vex taps her nails against the tabletop thoughtfully, then smiles. “Would you like to try on one of my dresses?”

Percy stares at her, his eyes even wider than before. “E-excuse me?”

“You said you had wanted one, right? Well, we’re about the same size- you’re a little taller, sure, and my dresses are tailored to fit my breast band, but I think it’ll look nice.”

“Vex-”

“And we can get you measured for one of your own, of course.”

Percy’s mouth works silently for a few seconds as he tries to formulate some kind of argument, but eventually he just nods. Vex grins gleefully and runs to her closet, where she’s kept her lovely, fine-tailored dresses from the formal events Vox Machina has been invited to.

“Dress down to your underwear,” she calls over her shoulder. “I’ll help you lace it up. Oh, _here_ we go…”

She grabs a long, cornflower blue gown with a low neckline and smiles at it approvingly. Yes, she’d worn this one to their first dinner at the palace. At the time, she’d loathed the looks Percy gave her all night, but now that she knows they were born of jealousy and not disgust, she feels rather more sympathetic.

“What do you think of this one?” Vex asks, holding up the gown.

Percy gingerly finishes stripping to his undershirt and stands in the middle of the room awkwardly, arms crossed in front of his chest. He looks at the dress fondly and nods. “Yes,” he says, voice barely above a whisper. “I liked that one quite a lot when you wore it.”

Vex helps him put the dress on, slipping his arms into the sleeves and straightening out the skirt. She ties up the back with practiced ease- she used to do the same thing for Vax, and now does it much more happily for Keyleth and Pike -and takes him over to her mirror. “There we go,” she says proudly. “Don’t you look lovely!”

She’s surprised when Percy starts crying, but after her own experiences, she supposes she should’ve expected it.

“Shhh, shhh- oh, Percy, it’s okay. You look so nice, don’t you think?”

Percy sniffles and stares at the floor. “I’m sorry,” he says. “This is- impossibly kind of you. I- I didn’t think I’d be quite so, ah, overcome.”

Vex smiles and kisses him on the cheek. “Have you ever worn a dress before?” she asks. “You look so pretty.”

“Once,” Percy says. “I was maybe twelve? Vesper had outgrown one of her winter gowns, and my mother was holding onto it in a guest room until Whitney grew into it. I snuck in one night to try it on.” He smooths out the skirt, still avoiding his reflection. “I felt…beautiful. The dress hardly fit, I hadn’t hit my growth spurt yet so I was practically tripping over it as I twirled around the room, but it felt so good.” Percy lets out a short, tired laugh and rubs at his eyes with the heel of his palm. “Then I thought about how my family would react if I got caught, and I was so scared that I put it back in the wardrobe and never tried it again.”

Her heart breaks for Percy, hardly for the first time. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be beautiful, darling,” she says. “Look in the mirror. Look how gorgeous you are.”

Percy slowly looks back up, and gazes at himself in the mirror for a long time, silent. A tiny smile breaks across his face. “I don’t fill it out very well, do I?” He prods at the empty bust, but keeps smiling.

“You could get a breast band like mine, with the chest built in,” Vex says. “Gilmore actually has a lot of enchantments for this sort of thing at his shop.”

“Does he? I’m glad of that.” He shakes his head. “But no- I don’t think I want- um, breasts. I’m content with my body as it is, mostly. But of course, dresses aren’t typically designed for, ah, this.”

“Well, that’s easily remedied. We’ll take your measurements and we can have a gown custom-made. What color do you think you’d like?”

Percy gapes at her, and if it weren’t for the fact that he’d been crying just a minute ago, Vex would giggle. “We could- there are people who would- do that? Just like that?”

“Percy. Darling. Where do you think I get all my clothes?”

Percy flushes slightly, embarrassed. “Ah- all right, I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Some genius you are,” she says, then ruffles his hair to make sure he knows she’s only teasing. “This is the biggest city in Tal’dorei. You can get _anything_ here.”

Percy chuckles, then his expression sobers, though he still looks happy. “Vex. Thank you. For this, for listening to me, for understanding… I really am sorry that I made you feel like I don’t find you absolutely incredible.”

She’d nearly forgotten how all this even started. “It hurt,” she admits. “But knowing what I do now- well, I’m glad I was wrong. I very much forgive you, darling.” She perks up, a thought coming to her head. “I wanted to ask- do you want to still be called Percy? Vax and I just traded names when we were children, you could have your pick of all the names in the world, if you wanted.”

He appears to think about it, then shakes his head. “I’m happy being Percival,” he says. “And it is one of my last ties to my family. I think my name is one of the few things I really, genuinely like about myself.”

Vex squeezes his hand affectionately. “Well, I think there’s plenty to adore. Let’s be happy together, shall we?”

Percy kisses the top of her head and admires their reflection, side by side in the mirror. “Let’s.”


End file.
